Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture (Volume 8) (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)

What does it mean to worship beings that one believes are completely indifferent to, and entirely beyond the reach of, any form of worship whatsoever? How would such a relationship with sacred beings affect the religious life of a community? Using these questions as his point of departure, Lawrence A. Babb explores the ritual culture of image-worshipping Svetambar Jains of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Jainism traces its lineages back to the ninth century B.C.E. and is, along with Buddhism, the only surviving example of India's ancient non-Vedic religious traditions. It is known and celebrated for its systematic practice of non-violence and for the intense rigor of the asceticism it promotes. A unique aspect of Babb's study is his linking of the Jain tradition to the social identity of existing Jain communities. Babb concludes by showing that Jain ritual culture can be seen as a variation on pan-Indian ritual patterns. In illuminating this little-known religious tradition, he demonstrates that divine "absence" can be as rich as divine "presence" in its possibilities for informing a religious response to the cosmos. What does it mean to worship beings that one believes are completely indifferent to, and entirely beyond the reach of, any form of worship whatsoever? What are the implications of such a relationship with sacred beings for the religious life of a community? These turn out to be questions that can be investigated and answered, for a very close approximation of such a state of affairs can be found in the South Asian religious traditions known collectively in English as Jainism. This book is an exploration of one of Jainism's several branches from the standpoint of the interactions real, putative, or lacking altogether between human beings and the sacred entities with which they attempt to build ritual relationships 1. Victors. The Lord's Last Life. The Cosmos. Living Ascetics -- 2. Kings Of The Gods. The Lord's Bath. Reflexivity -- 3. Magical Monks: A Ritual Subculture. Ascetic Career As Ritual Charter. Dadagurudevs. A Ritual Subculture -- 4. Valor: The Transformation Of Warrior-kings. Kings Who Give Up Meat. Khartar Gacch Legends. Warrior-kings Transformed -- 5. Giving And Giving Up. Variations. Hot Potatoes. Lawrence A. Babb. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 223-230) And Index. The ritual culture of image-worshipping Sventambar Jains of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan are explored in this volume, with the author linking Jain tradition to the social identity of existing Jain communities.